CL-031 Sean McEmerson is Afraid You Won't Understand a Word He Says

One of my favorite things about industries like ours (beer, wine, food and drink) is the sense of community that springs up around them. People find others who want to talk about what excites them—and one of those communities is The Fervent Few. 

Initially a group of beer enthusiasts, The Fervent Few has transformed into a lively corner of the internet that explores the world of beer in a way that’s nuanced, considered, and honest. The Fervent Few is a paid-membership community, with its own Slack channel (if you’re unfamiliar, think of Slack as the modern-day version of a chatroom, where people talk and share ideas), and we’re always surprised by the conversations that happen there. People aren’t just talking about beer: they’re sharing the passions and hobbies that shape their lives. 

One of the Slack channels that gets a lot of traffic is the photography section. Folks take pictures of beers, taprooms, and anything else they find interesting, and we’ve found a lot of new GBH contributors through this channel. One of those people who recently made the jump from Fervent Few member to contributor is Sean McEmerson, originally from Scotland and now residing in East London.

As someone who made a not-so-dissimilar jump from podcaster to GBH writer and producer, I wanted to talk to Sean about how he got into beer and what fueled his interest to learn more and join a community like The Fervent Few. Sean recently published his first piece with us—it’s part of our b-Roll series, where we showcase photos of everyday life from members of our team—and I learned that, even once you get your work published somewhere, it’s still hard to make the jump that you’ve done it: you’re a photographer now. 

This conversation was pretty straightforward, and you don’t need to have read any articles or know anything ahead of time to understand what we’re talking about. Instead, you’ll hear two folks talking about their beginnings in beer, a little bit about street photography, and how passion and interest can take you down new and exciting pathways. Here’s Sean McEmerson. Listen in.